Helping the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) Determine How Best to Enhance the Leadership Skills of Its Membership

The RCPI

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) is a postgraduate medical training college dedicated to ensuring that doctors have the skills to provide patients with the best possible care. Since their foundation in 1654 they’ve remained dedicated to the education and training of doctors – committed to helping doctors enhance their skills, competencies and professionalism throughout their working lives.

The Challenge

The RCPI wanted to explore the level of appetite within its membership for development of a particular skill – that of leadership. The RCPI decided to engage in market research in order to be able to make a data-backed decision on whether the membership wanted such a programme and, if so, its content, delivery mechanism(s), price and qualification level.

The Solution

SurveyGuru were commissioned to carry out this research project. It was agreed that the research methodology would be an online survey. A project timeline with milestones was agreed with the RCPI and the survey was then developed in three stages:

By SurveyGuru in collaboration with RCPI

Refined through consultations between SurveyGuru and senior stakeholders in the RCPI

Refined further through consultations between SurveyGuru and identified target respondents, i.e., Physicians

The survey was conducted, its results analysed and interpreted, its key findings identified, and a clear course of action recommended.

The Benefits

The RCPI received a data-backed, comprehensive and representative picture of the membership’s views. What the RCPI learnt from its membership included:

the extent of their previous training in leadership

the level of interest in further leadership training

the desired content of such training

the optimum timing and delivery method(s) of such training

the desired qualification level associated with such training

the optimum price point of such training

With this information the RCPI has been able to devise a path forward reflecting its members’ true opinions.

“Before having SurveyGuru carry out this research we thought we had some sense of our members’ opinions. We quickly learnt that our knowledge was shallow and not much more than anecdotal. Working with Brendan was an eye-opener – his knowledge of what to ask, what not to ask, how to ask it, when to ask it, and of whom to ask it was hugely helpful. Allied to that, his analytical and interpretive skills provided us with a superb report. And he didn’t drown us in superfluous detail – we got a detailed list of prioritised recommendations – all data-backed. This allowed us to confidently make decisions – exactly what we had been looking for.” Hadas Levy, Manager – Education Development Department, RCPI. PDF